3/3/2015 – After more than one round of wait-and-see, the sixth round of the European Championship turned up the heat as heads rolled at the top. Both early leaders, Anton Korobov and David Navara, lost as rivals took their fates in their own hands to take over the lead, and there are now four new top dogs at 5.0/6, with Ian Nepomniachtchi at the helm. Illustrated report.Discuss

3/3/2015 – In the second part of his extensive portrait of potential World Championship candidate Wesley So, Eliseo Tumbaga reveals that So and Magnus Carlsen once trained together and wonders how the career of the 21-year old will continue in 2015, if he will work with a professional coach, and how he will adjust to the new life as one of the world's best.Discuss

3/3/2015 – in 1974, Anatoly Karpov defeated Viktor Korchnoi in the Candidate Finals to earn the right to play Bobby Fischer for the title. Although Bobby never showed up, Karpov had no way of foreseeing this, and prepared for it as best he could. Want to know how he got ready for the greatest match in his life? Read on to find out the complete details of his preparation.Discuss

3/2/2015 – Round five was another fairly controlled affair, with only three decisive games on the top sixteen boards. This isn't to say they were not played out, but clearly the players preferred to err on the side of caution than not when making decisions. This worked out well for Korobov, who drew but stays in the lead. Still, there was room for creative play.Discuss

3/2/2015 – Wilhelm Steinitz was proud on his defensive skills but they did not help him when he faced the McCutcheon variation in the French Defence for the first time. One example that shows how dangerous the whole line is for White. Rustam Kasimdzhanov has many more and more modern examples to offer - and an exciting repertoire for players who like to play for a win.Discuss

3/2/2015 – How would you like to play in an international chess tournament, via the Internet, as a school team. You will be competing for an extraordinary prize: each national tournament winner will receive a fun-filled trip to London in June 2015 to take part in Finals. The tournament is open to primary/ elementary school teams from eight countries, registry and participation is free. Don't miss it!Discuss

3/2/2015 – Though most chess players know about the match that never took place in 1975, few know that not only did Anatoly Karpov follow the games in Reykjavik closely in 1972, but that he was also a part of the team responsible for preparing and training Boris Spassky for his title defense. Here is the first part of an interview dedicated to only one topic: Bobby Fischer.Discuss

3/1/2015 – The World Team Championship is around the corner, in only a month and a half the top teams will face each other in Armenia, and the top squads are preparing for this tournament. A friendly Scheveningen-style match will be held between China and India in Hydebarad, India. The locals are fielding their Olympic team, while China brings both Ding Liren and the newly minted 2700, Wei Yi.Discuss

3/1/2015 – The participants of the European Championship taking place in Jerusalem enjoyed a free Saturday. Most of the foreign guests took advantage of the great weather to join a magnificent excursion to Masada, a famous fortification built by Herod the Great, and the Dead Sea, where they immersed themselves in ancient history, mud baths and floating chess.Discuss

3/1/2015 – Three down, one to go. The Grand Prix series only has one tournament left: the deciding round robin in Khanty-Mansiysk to be held in May. But how did the Tbilisi GP change the standings? We bring you a report of the short, but sweet, closing ceremony as well as an overview of who left Tbilisi as the favorite to qualify in one of the two spots for the 2016 Candidates tournament.Discuss

2/28/2015 – 26 years and two months to be exact. On January 1989, 12-year-old Judit Polgar appeared on the FIDE ratings list with a 2555 rating, making her the youngest Top 100 ever, and the no.1 female player in the world, a ranking she held until today, when Hou Yifan officially became the new no.1. Also this month, Wei Yi becomes the youngest player ever rated 2700.Discuss

2/28/2015 – Choosing an opening can be a tricky business, whether as an amateur or a professional. Players are always trying to find that Holy Grail that is neither too sedate, nor too risky. In his latest DVD on the Sicilian Taimanov, GM Alejandro Ramirez says "It's a solid defense; it's not overly risky; it's giving Black very good results, and especially, very good positions.” A review.Discuss

2/28/2015 – Whether due to cautious play, or simply the extremely balanced boards with players having similar ratings for the most part, round four saw an inordinate number of draws at the top boards for an open, with only five of the top twenty games ending in decisive results. This left the way open for one player to take sole lead, and one did just that.Discuss

2/28/2015 – The Bunratty Open in Ireland is a tournament chess globetrotter Alina l'Ami did not want to miss. It has the right ingredients for an entertaining and delightful chess tournament, the competition is strong, the players are cheerful, the games creative, and inspired, often by the free-flowing Guinness. But if you are not careful, Bunratty holds surprising dangers.Discuss

2/27/2015 – Due to the extremely high level of the players, the second and third rounds saw top-level clashes already with top boards averaging over 2600 Elo. The number of players with perfect scores dropped from 26 in round two to just five in round three. Although they certainly all deserve praise, David Navara's play stands out for his extremely entertaining attacking play.Discuss

2/27/2015 – On November 9th Garry Kasparov became the youngest World Champion in chess history; on November 9 1989 the Berlin Wall came down, heralding the end of the Communist era. Reason TV has conducted a remarkable 30-minute video interview with Kasparov, who also makes some very powerful points on Ukraine in a new Wall Street Journal interview. Addendum: Murder in Moscow.Discuss

2/27/2015 – The last round of the tournament saw another six draws, same as yesterday, with some of the games still being hard-fought draws while a couple of others were barely a game. With these series of results Tomashevsky finished first with his 1.5 point lead, while Jakovenko claimed second. On third place Radjabov was able to take it cleanly, being just half a point behind.Discuss

2/27/2015 – Tactics can seem deceptively simple, particularly when seeing an engine analysing grandmaster games. Strange, however, how difficult it is to find the right move and to calculate variations properly when playing yourself. It is easier if you solve tactical puzzles regularly. In the ChessBase Magazine and his tactics column Oliver Reeh helps you to do so.Discuss

2/27/2015 – The better your tools, the easier the work - no matter whether you work at the computer or if you pursue a trade. If you study chess openings the typical motifs of that opening are your tools. The better you know them, the better your results. For the Benoni player Romanian grandmaster Mihail Marin has a large box of very useful tools.Discuss

Today on playchess.com

3/3/2015 – Tryfon Gavriel also known as Kingscrusher shows instructional games. Either from the past or today these games
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ChessBase 13 is a personal, stand-alone chess database program that has become the standard throughout the world. Everyone uses ChessBase, from the World Champion to the amateur next door. New functions: ChessBase-Cloud, improved repertoire function etc.

In the classical system of the King’s Indian White develops naturally and refrains from chasing ghosts looking for a refutation of Black’s set-up. White instead relies on the fact that natural play should yield him a small but lasting advantage.

The polish GM Michal Krasenkow presents a repertoire based on the Noteboom and the Stonewall. Black’s set-up may lead to a whole range of different and interesting positions, which help the black player to broaden his strategic and tactical understanding.

WCh-match Sochi 2014 with a survey by Marin and video analyses by King. Hightlights from the London Chess Classic and Qatar Open with annotations by Yu Yangyi. Training on tactics, strategy and endgame. 12 opening articles with new repertroire ideas!

Avoid long theoretical battles by playing 3.Bb5 or 3.b3/3.g3 against the sicilian. Lorin D’Costa and Nick Murphy show you, how you play for an advantage in these systems and how to punish knowledge gaps of your opponent.

Opening expert and former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov shows you the secrets in the McCutcheon (3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4). He shows why Bd2 is no longer the main line and which continuation will be the theory of tomorrow.